One of the largest changes coming in the second part of Minecraft’s Caves & Cliffs update impacts both caves and cliffs. The update will include multiple changes to the way the game generates its blocky worlds, shifting mountains even higher into the sky while caves will have brand-new underground biomes. The update itself isn’t out yet, but players can preview some of Minecraft’s new world generation in its latest Snapshot beta.
Included in Minecraft Snapshot 6 are a suite of terrain generation updates, with the first and foremost making mountains generate so they match the surrounding terrain better. The game will now take climate into account when generating its mountains, so in warm climates, players can expect to find snow higher up on a mountain, while others in colder climates will have snow closer to their base.
Caves are also receiving some sizable changes with this Snapshot, although players may not find them too friendly. Ocean floors will now be “cavier,” linking to underground cave systems. Players will now be able to find cave systems by diving to the bottom of the ocean easily, but they may also find that more of the caves they explore are totally flooded. The Snapshot also marks the return of underwater ravines.
These features are currently only available in Minecraft’s latest Snapshot beta. The second part of the Caves & Cliffs update that will introduce new terrain generation into the main version of Minecraft doesn’t have a release date just yet but is scheduled to launch during the holiday season. A full list of the changes in the game’s Snapshot 6 can be found below.
Minecraft Snapshot 6 patch notes
- Tweaked placement of the new mountain biomes so they match the mountain terrain and temperature better. Grove and snowy slopes are less likely to generate on mountain peaks. In cold climates grove and snowy slopes tend to start much lower down, while in temperate and hot climates they tend to start higher up.
- Tweaked biome placement to reduce the risk of cold microbiomes, such as a small splotch of snowy tundra in the middle of a forest (birdpoop microbiomes). It can still happen, but not as often.
- Fixed an accidental change from last snapshot that made lush caves smaller and more fragmented. Now they should be about as common as in snapshot 4 again.
- Giant tree taiga and giant spruce taiga no longer count as cold climates from a biome placement perspective. So these biomes are less likely to mixed in with snowy biomes. This caused a small reshuffle of other biomes to maintain the overall balance.
- Slightly reduced the number of water springs.
- Slightly increased underwater magma, to increase the chance of finding air when diving in aquifers.
- Cavier ocean floors! Aquifers under oceans/rivers are more likely to link to the underground. This means you are more likely to find cave openings on ocean floors that actually lead somewhere instead of being cut off. One consequence of this is that caves at y0-40 below oceans are more likely to be flooded. If you dive into an underground lake you might end up inside one of those flooded caves and pop out at the bottom of an ocean.
- Underwater ravines are back. Cave carvers can now carve through sand and gravel on ocean floors, so underwater ravines and caves will no longer be hidden under a layer of gravel or sand. As opposed to MC 1.17, we no longer use a specific carver for underwater ravines, we just use normal noise caves and carvers but on ocean floors. So the underwater ravines won’t look exactly the same as in 1.17, but we get a lot more natural variation. Magma may still generate inside them, as with all flooded caves.
- Horses, Mules, and Donkeys now follow players holding golden carrots, golden apples, and enchanted golden apples. Makes it easier to get your horse across that deep river! Similarly, llamas follow hay bales.
- That’s all.
- No wait, one more thing. Almost forgot the swamps. Swamps can now generate in dry areas. They couldn’t in last snapshot, which seemed to make sense, but it turned out that sometimes a very small area will be drier than the surrounding area, causing microbiome issues like small spots of desert in the middle of a swamp. Swamps should be less fragmented now, and they appreciate that.
Source: Gamespot
